Try of the year: for me, like many I’d guess, the try of the year was Chris Ashton’s full pitch sprint against the Wallabies.

It was such a good team display that day, with so many young players showing what they could do, and that score was the icing on the cake – it was a great individual score, and epitomised the ambition that there is within the England squad.

Player of the year: so many players have been consistently good this year, but for me, Ben Youngs has to be the player of the year.

The Leicester scrum-half is an amazing natural talent, and is proving to be mature beyond his years – he has everything going for him, and has definitely got a great future ahead of him if he keeps working hard.

Team of the year: I think I have to admit that New Zealand have been the team of the year in my opinion. Their current form is incredible, and with them winning the Tri-Nations and the Grand Slam tour here, it makes them the team to beat next year in the World Cup, especially as they will be on home soil.

Moment of the year: my best moment of the year is outside rugby, but it has got to be the birth of my baby girl Kree.

She arrived on the 11th December, just in time for Christmas, and saw me having to fly home from Belfast before Bath’s Heineken Cup game over there. Family is so important to me and to now have a little girl in addition to my two boys is fantastic.
New Year’s Resolution: the hardest of them all, my New Year’s resolution. It would have to be to
keep improving and learning as a player, and help Bath get the wins they deserve.

Shontayne Hape plays centre for Bath Rugby in the Aviva Premiership and has six caps for England.

Try of the season: Chris Ashton’s for England against Australia at Twickenham. That was pretty special.

Nobody had seen a try like that from England for a long time and it was started by a man who is not short of confidence after a great year at Leicester, Ben Youngs. It shows just how far they have come in the last 12 months. Every stride Chris took was like an extra step for England.

Pace: Ben Youngs was one of the standout players this autumn PHOTO: AFP

Team of the year: New Zealand. Simple. The best side in the World who have played some terrific rugby and beaten everything that was put in their way.

They will be very hard to beat on their own turf in the World Cup and any side that does that will thoroughly deserve the spoils.

Moment of the year: I would like to say my match-winning try of the final minutes of the Aviva Premiership final at Twickenham against Saracens last May – but I’m not that sort of person.

Player of the year: Ben Youngs. He has won a lot of games on his own for Leicester in the past year and he has come from a fringe player to the No 1 choice with both club and country. Ben is a great lad, fun to be with and seriously talented.

New Year’s Resolution: Get myself fit obviously and say “yes” to more things, unless they get me into trouble.

Dan Hipkiss plays centre for Leicester Tigers and has 13 caps for England.

Try of the year: there have been a few outstanding efforts from Down Under, and Andy Saull scored a great one sparked by Schalk Brits against Quins at Wembley.

However, surely there can be only one winner for an English rugby fan, and that is Chris Ashton’s stunning effort against Australia. It has been a while since that many English fans have been up off their seats.

Team of the year: other teams may have garnered more headlines, but my team of the year is Exeter Chiefs. Bristol were expected to bounce straight back into the Premiership, but were beaten comfortably in a two leg Championship final, and now the Chiefs are making considerable waves in every competition they are involved in.

Sandy Park is becoming a hard place to go.

Player of the year: Richie McCaw and Quade Cooper have had big years in the Southern Hemisphere, as have Chris Ashton and Ben Youngs.

My player of the year though is Soane Tonga’uiha, who has been a massive presence in the Northampton side and English rugby in general. I do not think there is a better rugby playing prop in the world.

Moment of the year: Most bizarre was certainly Brendan Venter’s post match interview after losing to Racing Metro. Fascinating watching. The best was England’s victory in Australia for the first time since 2003.
New Year’s Resolution: to win silverware with Harlequins. Away from rugby, to start the French lessons I’ve been talking about, and to save more money.

Mark Lambert plays prop for Harlequins in the Aviva Premiership and has represented the England Saxons.

Try of the year: it has to be Chris Ashton’s try against Australia at Twickenham. The build up showed great courage for Ben Youngs to run the ball from his own line and the pace Ashton displayed to finish a move from 90m out was extremely special at Test match level.

My try against Harlequins from the halfway line comes a close second.

Turning point: England have taken great confidence from beating Australia PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

Team of the year: Exeter have had a fantastic 2010. The way in which they won the league and then progressed on to be a force to be reckoned with in the Premiership makes them worthy recipients.

Moment of the year: England’s away win against Australia. Closely followed by Bob Casey’s pass to set up my try against Harlequins.

Player of the year: Soane Tonga’uiha. Although it may be hard to believe, Soane has got better as the year has gone on. His work rate is second to none in the front row and he has added a consistent attacking scrummaging threat to his game.

I don’t know anyone his size in world rugby that has his offloading ability and he scores more tries than most backs.

New Year’s resolution: learn the guitar well enough to play on an away trip and not get ‘paddled’ (walk up the bus while the boys smack you with their shoes).

Nick Kennedy plays lock for London Irish in the Aviva Premiership and has been capped seven times by England.

Try of the year: Chris Ashton’s amazing effort in the autumn international against Australia at Twickenham. It has been said to mark a turning point in English rugby. A fine individual effort which amazed the rugby fraternity.

On fire: Soane Tonga'uiha has had a great year for Northampton PHOTO: ACTION IMAGES

Player of the year: Soane Tonga’uiha. Consistently good, massive ball carrier for the Saints and a hard man to stop when he gets a full head of steam up. Weighs in with plenty of tries as well.
Moment of the year: that’s an easy one. Our promotion last May into the Aviva Premiership when we beat Bristol in the Championship play-offs. The culmination of 50 weeks of hard work, but which ultimately came down to one
game.

New Years resolution: to keep up to date my club food diary in a bid to avoid yet another 2k row from our strength and conditioning guru Paddy Anson.

Try of the Year: this has to go to Chris Ashton for his length of the field effort for England against the Wallabies.

Having sustained a barrage of Australian attacks on their own goal line England had the courage to turn desperate defence into a try. Awareness from Ben Youngs, subtle handing from Courtney Lawes and a sublime 95 metre run from Chris Ashton, in which he rounded Drew Mitchell as if it were an U11 school match, has to make this the best try of
2010.

Team of the year: Following our recent run of form and the way we have finished the year winning our last six games I’d say Wasps have made a pretty good mark.

However, the way in which Exeter secured promotion to the Aviva Premiership and then went against every rugby pundit’s predictions to be more than a team to just make up the numbers has been very impressive.

After such an attritional championship season to play eight play-off games and come out victorious is quite an achievement. To then compete in the Aviva Premiership as they have done and beat some of the title challenging sides, both home and away, for me justifies them as the best team of 2010.

Moment of the year: The most poignant rugby moment this year has to be the retirement of Phil Vickery. The retirement of any player’s career as illustrious as Phil’s marks a significant moment in any season.

For me it also reminds us of how fragile our careers can be as rugby players, especially having played with Phil only a month or so before he announced his retirement. One moment your fighting fit, the next you realise your body
is unable to continue.
New Years Resolution: To come back from my injury and fight for my place in the Wasps side which isn’t going to be so easy considering the strong form of our midfield over last month.

On a personal front I’m going to make sure I never run out of toothpaste and when washing my clothes keep my whites
away from my colours. I’ve had enough of pink Nike pros.

Dom Waldouck plays centre for London Wasps and is in the England Elite Player Squad.

Best try – it has to be Chris Ashton’s try against Australia. I’m sure plenty of people will agree that the great game will be remembered for the length of the field try that sealed victory.

Let's dance: Gavin Henson was dedicated to dancing in 2010 PHOTO: PA

Team of the Year – Exeter have to be my team of the year. We know at Leeds how tough it is to get out of the Championship, let alone perform as they have in the Premiership. The club as a whole deserves massive praise for their efforts in 2010.
Moment of the Year – has to be our victory against Worcester to secure Premiership survival. it wasn’t a great game or performance, but the pressure in the ground and relief at the final whistle was amazing.
Player of the Year - Gavin Henson….his training and performance week in week out has been amazing to watch, not to mention his training partner.
New Years resolution – shower more than once a week, whether i need it or not!

At this time of year most people are winding down their professional lives, to focus more on family festivities associated with the Christmas period.

However in the rugby world, work continues as per usual. Balancing life outside of rugby and rugby itself is often toughest for most of us at this time of year.

No holiday: Kelly Brown takes a face full of snow PHOTO: AFP

But what an exciting weekend to look forward to – Christmas on Saturday and then we have a big game against Wasps at Wembley scheduled on Boxing Day so managing turkey, ham and Christmas pudding intake will be essential!

With the big freeze well and truly settled in the UK, and wrecking havoc in transport and training grounds across the country, it’s a great opportunity to look back at a year of exciting and enthralling rugby. For this I have chosen to end off my last blog for 2010 with a few awards:

Try of the year: England’s Chris Ashton effort against Australia was a special one.
Team of the year: All Blacks, who have been really dominant in 2010.

Moment of the year:the realisation that there is less than a year to go until the World Cup in New Zealand.

My New Year’s resolution? To make every second count!

Brad Barritt plays centre for Aviva Premiership side Saracens and is a member of the England Saxons squad.

To be in with a chance of winning tickets to Saracens v Wasps on December 26 at Wembley all you have to do is submit your name and contact details here

2010, eh? What a year of rugby. We had a World Cup, a new record for most Tests won on the bounce, a player staging his own death and yet more dominance from the All Blacks.

Unbeatable: the New Zealand Black Ferns were too strong for England in the Women's Rugby World Cup final PHOTO: ACTION IMAGES

Since it was such a momentous year it seems right to hand out some awards for the brightest and best as well as the downright awful. Let’s go…

Tackle of the year – Nicole Beck on Fiona Pocock - A copybook cover tackle on the England wing that was so fearsome Pocock played no further part in the tournament.Watch here….

Game of the year – South Africa 39 Australia 41 - Eight superb tries, a nearly incredible comeback from the Boks and last minute balls of steel from Kurtley Beale to kick over the winning points. Watch here….

Tournament of the year – Women’s Rugby World Cup – An incredible advert for women’s rugby and a tournament of high skill, and even higher passion. Those tears of pride during the anthems before England v Australia really caught me by surprise.

Try of the year – Bryan Habana v Chiefs – the ball goes through the hands about 13 times and forwards like Schalk Burger and Andries Bekker show incredible pace and effort to keep a move going that is finally finished off by Habana in the corner. Watch here….

Quote of the year – Brendan Venter – “Bit of genius. Bit of magic. Serlei Bobo. Very interesting. Very good, ja. Very good. Three cheers for Sereli Bobo. Very good. Very good.”Watch here….

Player of the year – Mils Muliaina – Richie McCaw may have won the IRB’s top gong but for me the All Blacks full-back was more of an example of consistent quality. Think how reassuring it must be to have him at the top of every team-sheet.

Story of the year – Bulls player stages death - A story so ridiculous that you won’t believe me if I tell you. Just Google ‘blue bulls cougar’ and enjoy. Honourable mention to Saracens who had sports desks falling over themselves every week.

Team of the year – New Zealand Black Ferns – The All Blacks only lost one Test and Lithuania set a new world record for consecutive Test wins, but the Black Ferns showed a steely edge that deserves recognition. England had the home crowd and momentum, but the Ferns refused to roll over and won yet another WRWC.

Nickname of the year – Kurtley ”Gilbert’ Beale - From the boys at Green & Gold Rugby who renamed the Aussie full-back ‘Gilbert’ after a looping pass ended up smacking him square in the face. Watch here…

Coach of the year – Rob Baxter - Exeter’s coach has done a fantastic job in getting the Chiefs up to the Premiership, and he looks like keeping them there. Saw off stiff competition from Mike Ruddock and Peter de Villiers.

Softie of the year – Bakkies Botha - The Bulls lock was reportedly so distraught about his nine-week ban for a headbutt on Jimmy Cowan that he went awol in the bush and wouldn’t answer his phone. Bless.

Heroes of the year – Rugby Tweeters - 2010 was the year rugby players moved on to Twitter en masse. We learned that Harlequins wing Ugo Monye eats as much Nando’s as he does promotional work and that Australians Quade Cooper and James O’Connor like working out together as much as they like eating out together.

Villains of the year – referees - we all rejoiced at the back end of the northern hemisphere’s 09/10 season when the breakdown directives were taken up north. But the breakdown remains a mess and some referees are ruining potentially enjoyable games.

In an amazing feat of groundmanship across Europe, only two matches in the Heineken Cup were postponed at the weekend despite the chaos caused by the Big Chill: 2. And as the tournament takes a break now until mid-January, it’s time for a few reflections on high points of 2010.

Stars in the making: Chris Ashton and Ben Youngs showed world rugby what they're about PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

Here are my thoughts:

Try of the year: Rhys Priestland’s second touchdown for Scarlets v Perpignan in the Heineken Cup on Oct 9. Stunning. Started with a turn-over from a line-out involved two out-the-back-door passes from Morgan Stoddart and Regan King.

Team of the year: New Zealand. Unbeaten in the Tri-Nations and completed Grand Slam of UK and Ireland. No contest.

Moment of the year: Chris Ashton’s try for England against Australia at Twickenham. The overlap was on from the moment Tom Palmer pinched the ball from Will Genia on England’s line but the ability and courage of Ben Youngs and Courtney Lawes to exploit it and the finishing instinct of Ashton brought the Twickenham crowd to its feet.

Ashton’s beaming face as he raced inside Drew Mitchell captured the moment when England’s attacking game came of age.

Player of the Year: Kieran Read. Richie McCaw and Dan Carter are the obvious candidates, but Read has been the most improved All Black of the year and his influence in the best team in the world is now considerable. A modern day Buck Shelford.

New Year’s resolution: Now, where did I leave that gym membership card?